FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2002
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Volume 1, Issue 70
Santa Monica Daily Press Serving Santa Monica for the past 82 days
Landmark status at stake City to debate whether Civic Center auditorium is historic
“Parts of the front of the building are impressive, but the rest of the building is really just a box. “There is nothing historic about
ANDREW H. FIXMER Special to the Daily Press
Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press
The land between Malibu and Topanga Canyon won’t be subject to development.
Coastal land purchase links wide swath of open space By The Associated Press
A conservation group has acquired more than 400 acres of land between two coastal canyons above Pacific Coast Highway. The deal reached by the Mountains Restoration Trust will link a stretch of undeveloped land that is mostly covered with coastal scrub and chaparral. The land purchase in Tuna Canyon between Malibu and Topanga canyons connects more than 1,600 acres bought by the state to extend Topanga State Park to the ocean and 1,256 acres acquired by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. “It’s a really strategic wedge piece between the two properties,” said Rorie Skei, acting
deputy director of the conservancy. Trust officials said they will work with the state and the conservancy to protect wildlife habitats and explore recreational uses for the land. They hope to link the areas with a nature trail and build paths to the Backbone Trail, which runs 60 miles from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County. The trust acquired the land, valued at $13 million, from John Paul DeJoria, founder of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Systems, said Mountains Restoration Trust President Steve Harris. DeJoria bought the property in hopes of developing it. He sold a portion of the land for about $1.4 million and donated the remainder.
City officials want to make the Santa Monica Civic Center Auditorium an historic landmark for its unique architecture and for hosting significant cultural events throughout its 55-year history. But City Councilman Herb Katz says the auditorium is an antiquated theater badly in need of a complete renovation, lacking in both architectural significance and character. He has appealed the November decision by the Landmarks Commission to save the exterior and portions of the building’s interior. On Feb. 5, Katz plans to ask the city council to reconsider preserving a building that could potentially be central in unfinished plans to redevelop the Civic Center area, which is a $120 million project scheduled to be discussed next week. “We can do much better today. We know a lot more about acoustics and sound than we did in the 1950s and we could drastically improve the building,” Katz said.
“There is nothing historic about this building except for the pylons and parts of the exterior. But so what. Put them in a pond and remember them that way, and get over it.” — HERB KATZ Santa Monica City Councilman
this building except for the pylons and parts of the exterior. But so what. Put them in a pond and remember them that way, and get over it,” he added. Landmark officials say the building has a unique architectural style, designed by a well-known local architect, with acoustics designed by a famous UCLA dean. “It’s an icon. It’s a building that by anyone’s definition is a landmark,” said Ruthann Lehrer, chair See CIVIC CENTER, page 3
Defense secretary expects more deadly terrorist acts Plans find that water supplies, power plants targeted BY ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON — The United States could face terrorist surprises “vastly more deadly” than the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday. On a day in which other administration officials said the nation is likely to remain on a high state of alert for
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some time, Rumsfeld said terrorists who managed to get unconventional weapons and deliver them great distances with ballistic missiles could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. Amid evidence that the al-Qaida terrorist network may have been studying U.S. nuclear plants, dams and watersupply systems as potential targets, Rumsfeld said the magnitude of danger will grow if terrorists are allowed to link up with rogue nations willing to provide them with nuclear weapons. “These attacks could grow vastly more deadly than those we suffered,” he said in a speech at the National Defense University, a graduate school for senior military officers and government officials.
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Rumsfeld suggested that the answer to such threats may be pre-emptive strikes. “The best, and in some cases, the only defense is a good offense,” he said, since the New York and Pentagon attacks showed it is not possible to defend against every conceivable threat. Separately, government officials said nuclear power plant operators were alerted last week that terrorists might be planning an airplane attack on a reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission based its alert on information from an al-Qaida operative, the officials said. Later the commission followed up with an advisory stating that the See TERRORISM, page 3
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